Feb 25 2009 - The ASUS Eee PC 1000HE is more than just a small upgrade of their 1000 series netbooks. The system does include the new Intel Atom N280 although it doesn't really boost performance over the older N270. The real improvements come from the large six cell battery that give it amazing long running time and the redesigned keyboard that puts the right shift key in a more logical place. With its attractice price tag, 802.11n wireless and Bluetooth, this certainly is a very feature rich netbook even if it weight over three pounds.Manufacturer's SiteProsExtremely Long Battery Life802.11n Wireless and Bluetooth SupportImproved Keyboard LayoutConsAtom N280 Does Not Provide Any Real Performance BoostRelatively Heavy for NetbookDescriptionIntel Atom N280 Mobile Processor1GB DDR2 Memory (2GB Maximum)160GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive10-inch WXVGA (1024x600) Wide LCD With 1.3 Megapixel WebcamIntel GMA 950 Integrated GraphicsFast Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wireless, BluetoothThree USB 2.0, VGA, 4-in-1 Card Reader10.5" x 7.5" x 1.5" @ 3.2 lbs.Windows XP HomeGuide Review - ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10-inch Netbook Subnotebook Laptop PC

Feb 25 2009 - One of the biggest complaints about the Eee PC 1000 series netbooks has been the keyboard layout. ASUS has changed this with the new 1000HE making the placement of the right shift key more traditional and a very welcome design change.

The big improvement of the Eee PC 1000HE though is the battery. Many of the previous Eee PC 1000 models have only shipped with three cell batteries giving them a running time no different from traditional laptop computers. The 1000HE comes equipped with a sizable six cell battery that they claim can provide up to 9.5 hours of running time. A more realistic running time is around 7 hours without requiring it being plugged in.

Many people may be excited to see the Eee PC 1000HE comes with the newer Intel Atom N280 processor. It is supposedly faster thanks to its higher bus speed and slightly higher overall clock speed. In real world usage, most people won't notice any performance difference between it and a similarly equipped N270. Much of this probably comes from the fact that the system uses the same 945 chipset with its GMA 950 integrated graphics that still prevent it from supporting even 720p HD video.

One area that the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE certainly has an advantage is in the connectivity. While it doesn't have the cellular networking, it does come equipped with the faster 802.11n wireless networking. Add to this a built-in Bluetooth adapater and the 1000HE has the ability to easily connect to wireless peripherals without the need of a dongle.

The downside to all these features and the very long battery life is a much heavier weight. It is one of the few netbooks that weighs over three pounds. At least the overall dimensions are still small with smooth lines rather than a bulky battery pack.

the Hewlett-Packard Voodoo Envy 133, probably the most brazenly overpriced of the batch because it will still set you back as much as $2,700 despite the fact that it hasn't been updated in almost eight months and, accordingly, comes with obsolete hardware.

The 13-inch ultra-slim Voodoo Envy 133 model NV4050NA is priced at $2,699.99 (with "instant rebate"), but the buyer gets nothing extraordinary for this extraordinary price, with the possible exception of an external optical drive and a power adapter with a wireless access point built in.

The stratospheric-price-defying negatives include an old processor, a lagging-edge solid-state drive (64GB instead of the current 128GB standard), and last year's graphics.

Microsoft declared today that Windows 7 will be a step forward from Vista as far as gaming is concerned.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Microsoft’s VP of Entertainment Business Chris Lewis explained that during various tests with the new system, it will be quicker, more robust and efficient than Vista.

“Windows 7 will be great for games, undoubtedly. It’s all good news - it’s even more robust, it’s quicker relatively, and the early testing cycles are proving very promising overall. I think it’ll be nothing but good news for PC gamers, but we’ll have more to say on that later on this year.”

So, a great bit of news then for those who are still heavily into their PC games. Hopefully Microsoft will continue to keep us updated on the progress of Windows 7 as developments unfold. Let us know your views below.

After rumors sprang up across the blogosphere of a Windows 7 build 7048, we debunked them and along with all the other Windows 7 users, we looked hungrily for information on new builds. Microsoft is currently compiling pre-RC builds of Windows 7, the latest build being 7046. Many beta testers are frustrated that they have not received a build since build 7000, which was released to everyone on January 9, 2009. Unfortunately, Ars has learned that this trend will continue. When I asked Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president for the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, if Microsoft Connect testers as well as MSDN and TechNet subscribers will get the RC before the public, Sinofsky told me no: "The build will be available broadly."

When will this occur? Well, sources are continuously pointing to a release of the RC build in April, and now that timeframe has been further narrowed down. According to Neowin, "the official release date is set for April 10, 2009." Whether the Windows development team will be able to meet this date is another story entirely, but development is going quite well I'm told, so as of right now, I'm optimistic that the release date will be met.

Sinofsky has also been talking to Geeksmack, sending them an e-mail yesterday dispelling the buzz that Microsoft wasn't paying attention to what testers were saying: "We have received an amazing amount of feedback, many suggestions for new features too, during the beta—over 500,000 suggestions just from the Send Feedback button (which is only one of many feedback mechanisms). Putting that in perspective it is 500 suggestions for each and every developer on the Windows team, just since beta!" That is a lot of feedback to go through, and it looks like Sinofsky is up to the challenge.

HP's HDX line is fairly straightforward--it courts multimedia fiends. From its double-wide demeanor to all the plugs and ports offered here, the HDX18--a fairly fashionable desktop replacement--will stand out on your desk and let you play games in the process. The HDX18 has some brawn to match its beauty. In our WorldBench 6 tests, HP's notebook scored a solid 102. It's not quite the fastest we've seen, but it's more than powerful enough to play some games as well as video. A 2.8-GHz Core 2 Duo CPU (T9600), 4GB of RAM, and nVidia's 512MB GeForce 9600M GT GPU fuel our review unit. I can spit out frame rates of games like Doom 3 (it ran at a respectable 90 frames per second at 1280-by-1024 resolution), but what matters is that this machine can play this season's big guns without much of a hitch. I tooled around Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead on the screen's native 1920-by-1080 resolution. Both looked good and ran fairly smoothly. Combine that with the BD-ROM drive (for Blu-ray discs), HDMI port, flashy finish, and neat exterior, and you have an incredibly handsome home solution you wouldn't mind lugging from room to room. PCW Rating: 84

after windows 7 build 7000 , now you can find Windows 7 Build 7048 , read this article to learn more .

The first Release Candidate of Windows 7 is beginning to take contour. Following the availability of Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 for the general public on January 10, 2009, and the discontinuation of all downloads on February 12, there has been nothing but complete radio silence from Microsoft on the development of the next iteration of Windows. Still, it is undeniable that the Redmond company is making consistent headway building Windows 7, and that the development process has already moved past the Beta stage to the Release Candidate branch. Leaked information from testers now reveals that Windows 7 Build 7048 carries the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) label.

Various sources, especially enthusiasts on Windows-centric forums, indicate that a select pool of Microsoft testers have received Windows 7 Build 6.1.7048.winmain_win7rc1.090211-1625. Microsoft has yet to confirm or deny that, as at just a little over one month since the public launch of Windows 7 Beta it has started compiling builds of the operating system belonging to the RC branch.

However, the version label associated with Windows 7 Build 7048 indeed suggests that the Redmond company has branched off winmain. At the same time, “090211-1625” indicates that Windows 7 Build 7048 was compiled on February 11, 2009, at 4:25 PM.

Nevertheless, the leaked details on Windows 7 Build 7048 RC have to be taken with a grain of salt, as Microsoft has yet to unveil the actual naming scheme that will be associated with RC branch builds. Before Windows 7 Build 7048, testers leaked information and screenshots on Windows 7 Build 7032 (6.1.7032.0.winmain.090129-1812).

But, for the time being, only the bits for Windows 7 Build 7022 are available for download in the wild, with the 32-bit flavor having been leaked to BitTorrent trackers. As far as Microsoft is concerned, mum's the word for the Windows 7 Release Candidate, which is reportedly planned for an April 2009 launch.

after the big developpement of the world of open source , could windows 7 be the first operating system in the world or linux will win this game ?!!

With the release of Windows 7's first public beta, there's a feeling in the air that Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has finally created the Windows they've been promising for a long time. They've got little choice: the public and professional reaction to Vista, and mounting pressure from low-cost Linux on low-cost computing devices, means they've had to act fast.

There's fierce debate in the air about what 7 means for both Windows and Linux. Microsoft's last gasp? Linux's formidable new enemy? Closer inspection shows us it's not really either of those things. Linux has made strides of its own on the desktop and made it possible to build netbooks at low cost--and while Windows 7 will almost certainly take a bite out of that market and impress existing Windows users all the more, Linux has also become its own animal.

In this article I'm going to look at how Windows 7 and desktop breeds of Linux shape up against each other, mainly in the light of what's come before on both sides. This is not a formal review. In the first place, Windows 7 won't be released until the end of the year. Secondly, the goal here is not to award either Windows 7 or Linux top ranking. This is an exercise in which the two are compared side by side, to see what each one does in particular categories and why.

First Foot Forward

Since most people typically buy Windows with a computer as a preload, they don't have to deal with the process of installing the OS. The same now goes for machines that come with Linux preinstalled. However, those trying out the Win 7 beta -- and those installing Linux on an existing system -- have to dive into the installation process in some form.

The Windows 7 installation process ought to be familiar to anyone who's installed Vista: it's significantly faster than installing XP, and requires fewer setup choices along the way. Windows 7 still very much insists on being the first OS on the system, though. If you want to create a dual-boot, you're still more or less required to install some variety of Windows first, then Linux. Otherwise you're looking at having to repair one or the other OS to get them to boot.

One thing which Windows has added incrementally over time is better pre-boot environment support. You can boot the installation DVD and bring up a command console to perform a small subset of admin functions, including performing a full system image recovery (provided you made one to begin with).

Installing Linux used to be half the struggle right there, but the process has become a great deal easier. Ubuntu even gives you the option of running straight from an existing Windows partition (the "Wubi" feature) with only a minor performance hit. Another positive change is how the "hit rate" for hardware detection has gone up with each successive release. I'm now at the point, as described later in this piece, where one of my notebooks has all of its various components detected natively in Linux and requires no tinkering to work.

The other major thing Linux continues to offer in this regard -- and which Windows still seems unable to provide due to its own architectural limitations -- is the live CD, or live USB drive. Boot it and you're in a full-blown copy of the OS, with the biggest hindrance being the transfer speed of the boot media. (Running from a live CD is not something you can do for daily work.) This sort of thing is only possible in Windows with a great deal of acrobatics; in Linux, it's as natural as walking.

The Aspire 6930G features the Gemstone design and a stunning 16' Acer CineCrystal with a wide screen display which makes videos and images comes to life. Powerful enough to insure multiple tasks with ease, this notebook can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Forget Windows XP (SP3 or no SP3), not to mention Windows 2000 – don't wait for Windows 7 – deploy Windows Vista Service Pack 1 now – or Vista SP2 at the latest before mid-2009 – this is the Microsoft migration scenario in the context of the platform's evolution, with an emphasis on "don't wait for Windows 7." Fact is that the Windows client is evolving at a faster pace than the market can keep up with. XP, Vista and Windows 2000 are already saturating the operating system market, and Microsoft is done cooking Windows 7, feature-wise, and is perfecting the OS for Release Candidate, RTM and GA. Windows 7 is just at one month after the release into public Beta (a development milestone that is no longer accessible, with Microsoft discontinuing downloads altogether today), but already the next iteration of the Windows client is impacting all its precursors, with Vista bound to attract the heaviest blows, in terms of sales.

As far as home users are concerned, Windows 2000 is virtually dead and buried with a usage share of just over 1%. Vista managed a usage share of over 22%, with XP accounting for a triple audience. In just under a year, the market shares of Vista and XP will begin to erode with the launch of Windows 7. For many XP users that have been waiting for the next version of Windows, and continued waiting even after the advent of Vista, Windows 7 could indeed be the answer they are looking for. Skipping Vista is no longer a scenario dependent strictly on the end users' incapacity to renounce the comfort of XP, but a palpable reality, with Vista R2, Windows 6.1, or Windows 7 now on the horizon.

Microsoft's “Don’t wait for Windows 7” refrain is also valid for home users, but what the company is really trying to drive home is the need to get off XP, even with Service Pack 3, and off of Windows 2000, a move that is long overdue by any standards. Still, the Redmond company fails to take into consideration one aspect. New Windows Vista users, fresh from recent XP upgrades, will be resistant to coughing up money anytime soon for a move to Windows 7, even with discounted Win 7 upgrade prices. While for XP users upgrading to Windows 7 is the obvious answer, for some Vista customers an upgrade is bound to come only with Windows 8 at the latest, especially with generalized trends for consumers to cut back on spendings and protect their financial resources. Businesses however, and especially large corporations, have to look at Windows 7 in a whole other light.

Gavriella Schuster, senior director, Product Management for Windows Client explained that for companies, Microsoft recommends that “you use what you are running today to make the right decision for your business.

• If you are running Windows 2000 in your environment: Migrate your Windows 2000 PCs to Windows Vista as soon as possible. Extended support for Windows 2000 ends Q2 2010, and as a commercial customer, you may soon find your business’s critical applications are unsupported.

• If you are in the process of planning or deploying Windows Vista: Continue your Windows Vista SP1 deployment. If you’re really in the early stages or just starting on Windows Vista, plan to test and deploy Windows Vista SP2 (on target to RTM Q2 2009). Moving onto Windows Vista now will allow for an easier transition to Windows 7 in the future due to the high degree of compatibility.

• If you are on Windows XP now and are undecided about which OS to move to: Make sure you taken into consideration the risk of skipping Windows Vista, which I am discussing below. And know that deploying Windows Vista now will make the future transition to Windows 7 easier.

• If you are on Windows XP now and are waiting for Windows 7: Make sure you take into consideration the risks of skipping Windows Vista, and plan on starting an early evaluation of Windows 7 for your company using the beta that’s available now. Testing and remediating applications on Windows Vista will ease your Windows 7 deployment due to the high degree of compatibility.”

While for home users moving to Windows 7 is synonymous with a simple upgrade, business users have to deal with operating system migrations, hardware infrastructure refresh cycles, and application and service compatibility issues. Microsoft warned that there were a series of risks for corporate clients looking to ride XP for all it’s got, skip Vista altogether, and move straight to Windows 7. The past week, Forrester indicated that 15% of IT decision makers are planning to migrate to Windows 7 and skip Vista. Windows XP is still top dog, being installed on over 70% of computers with Vista on par with Windows 2009 at 10%.

“We want these customers to understand the following considerations, so they are not surprised later on: You may find your company in situations where applications are no longer supported on Windows XP and not yet supported on Windows 7. You will want to take time to evaluate Windows 7 just as you evaluate any new operating system for your environment prior to deployment (see deployment realities above). As Windows 7 is planned to be released in about 3 years after Windows Vista, the total period that many customers will likely be waiting prior to deploying Windows 7 in their environment will likely be in the range of 5 years after Windows Vista release,” Schuster added.

When Microsoft releases the different editions of Windows Vista in 2006, the market was baffled. The question on everyone’s mind seemed to be “why do we need this many versions of the same operating system?” The feature set was confusing, and to the average Joe Schmo, deciding on which version was right for his needs might’ve been a serious task requiring third party consulting.

Microsoft seems to have learned for this mistake, however. The software giant recently announced the versions of Windows 7 that will be available – Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional (previously dubbed “Business”), Enterprise, and Ultimate – and though the list is similar to Vista, there’s a twist.

According to PC Magazine, only Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional will be readily available to consumers. Previously, all versions of Vista – save for Vista Starter and Vista Enterprise – were available for consumers to purchase.

Vista Starter was reserved for developing countries and could only run three applications at one time. For Windows 7, Microsoft has actually switched the roles of the Starter and Home Basic editions. Windows 7 Starter will be available on low-end PCs direct from the manufacturer, but will still have the same limitations that Vista Starter had. Windows 7 Home Basic will be the new product targeted at developing markets.

Windows 7 Enterprise, much like Vista Enterprise, will still only be available for volume licensing – namely for large organizations that need many copies of the software for many different computers. Windows 7 Ultimate will be targeted to enthusiasts and gamers just like Vista Ultimate, but this time around, it will only be available as an upgrade from another version of Windows 7.

In short, Windows 7 will still have six versions, but when consumers go to the store and look on a shelf, they’ll only see two – Home Premium and Professional, hopefully ending confusion on that aspect of the product.

However, to even further alleviate confusion of the product line, unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 will be hierarchical, meaning that every version of the operating system will contain all features that the version below it has. Thus, Windows 7 Home Premium will contain all of the features found in the Starter and Home Basic editions, but will not contain some of the features found in the Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions.

Still think this is confusing? You can at least be comforted knowing that Microsoft isn’t taking any hints from the open source community with their literally hundreds, if not thousands of versions of Linux-based operating systems. However, Microsoft still hasn’t made it quite as simple and convenient as the one version of Mac OS X that Apple offers with all features included.

the current level of security on Windows 7 Beta is OK. A balance between security and convenience which is about right for a user who does ensure he is protected by a comprehensive Internet Security Programme providing a firewall, anti virus, anti malware , etc. etc. Comodo Internet Security is a good example but will not install on Windows 7. The Kaspersky beta for Windows 7 seems to be OK except that currently it has a lot of updates, each requiring a restart.

But then, I'm reasonably computer literate. Many other computer users are not and they do also require to be catered for. However, they likely will not understand a pletherer of intrusive questions to which they don't really know the answers anyway and will just say 'yes' regardless.

Then there are the business and commercial computers which need to be locked down completely. Again, there some small businesses which do not understand their computers very well either.

So there is no one size fits all and consequently Microsoft do, in fact, face a dilemma. Their proposed solution seems a reasonable, but not perfect, solution under the circumstances.

when you think that there are no new tricks left in the laptop world ... along comes something previously deemed impossible.

With its ThinkPad W700, Lenovo offered the first notebook with a built-in pen tablet and a color-calibration system. Now it ups the ante again, with this enhanced version of the W700 — the W700ds — the first laptop to offer a secondary screen, built right into the back of the primary display.

I use the term laptop loosely, of course, because they haven't invented a term to describe what this machine really is. Portable computer might be more appropriate: The 11-pound W700ds would crush the femurs of most undernourished geeks, and it's clearly designed to be parked on a desk (and, given the $5,059 price tag, secured with a sizable chain, too).

If you read our review of the W700, you'll grok our thoughts on the tablet and color-correction features of this machine. Here they seem wholly unchanged, and again the gorgeous, incredibly bright 17-inch display is more than ready to collect your average Pixar animator's drool.

If he's a real spitter, why, just reach to the right side and pop out a secondary display for more real estate — here you get a bonus 10.6-inch LCD, not as beautiful as the primary panel, alas, oriented in portrait mode. While jaws drop when this trick is first performed, in real life the secondary display doesn't have as much utility as you'd think. You can park IM windows here and whatever toolbars you use (obviously this was created with Photoshop jockeys in mind), but it's generally too small for dropping web pages or your e-mail client.

Under the hood, the W700ds has been quietly upgraded to a 2.53-GHz Core 2 Extreme and dual 200-GB hard drives. The 4 GB of RAM, 64-bit version of Vista and Nvidia Quadro FX 3700M GPU remain the same as the pitifully mono-screened W700. With its newly enhanced firepower, the W700ds broke all of our general-app laptop performance records (nearly 15 percent faster than the W700), and it rocked our gaming benchmarks too. For the permanent record the scores on PC Mark05 were 8449 and PC Mark Vantage were 5490.

Ask the W700ds to give you all the power in the world, and it complies. All it asks for in return is, like, all your money. And a ruptured disc or two.

MSI, best known for its Wind netbook, a thin and light laptop, is releasing the WindBox, a tiny computer that can literally attach to the back of a monitor or television, completely out of sight.

The WindBox will cost about $250 when it arrives in the United States this spring. It will run an Intel Atom processor at 1.6 gigahertz and includes an Intel graphics processor for video and photo playback. It contains 1 gigabyte of RAM and a standard SATA drive port for hard disk expansion. It also has a 3-in-1 card reader and supports wired and wireless networking.

While the WindBox is intended for more industrial applications — digital signs, for example — the device is small enough and powerful enough to run as a media server behind a TV or computer monitor. Because it runs a less powerful processor, it has no fan and is just 10 inches long and about 1 inch thick.

It might not be powerful enough to run the latest version of Vista, but this mini-PC is ideally suited for situations when you want a versatile PC in a small space. JOHN

after the misstep of windows vista , windows 7 become more important than ever , read this article to learn more .

windows 7 needs to convince all those still running Windows XP to finally get caught up on the times. One such way is with an attractive upgrade path to entice users to make the leap.

Microsoft has said that it will offer upgrade options for users to move from Windows XP to Windows 7, but to be clear, those are only for purchasing software licenses. There will be no software upgrade path.

“I can confirm that customers will be able to purchase upgrade media and an upgrade license to move from Windows XP to Windows 7 - however, they will need to do a clean installation of Windows 7,” a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to The Register. “This requires the user to back up their data, install Windows 7, re-install the programs and restore their data.”

Windows Vista users, however, will have the option to install over top their existing OS.

“For PCs running Windows Vista customers have the option of an in-place upgrade of Windows 7 keeping their data and programs intact or to perform a clean install of Windows 7,” added the rep.

Of course, the computer savvy bunch of us, which include all of you reading Tom’s Hardware, already know that a clean installation is the preferred way to go when going to a new operating system. There are just so many old cobwebs that can accumulate in any installation of Windows that a clean start is often preferred. In fact, some of us even go as far to reinstall Windows after a significant hardware change, such as a new motherboard.

David Smith, an analyst at Gartner Inc., also brought up to ComputerWorld, "I'm not a big fan of them. They're tough enough from one version to the next, and from two versions [behind], it would be pretty challenging, technically."

Users who are still running Windows XP are more likely to be on more “aged” installations. Making it mandatory for for XP users to start fresh with Windows 7 ensures a much more consistent experience and definitely makes supporting the OS a lot easier for Microsoft. But on the flip side, those who are happy running XP today could see “starting fresh” as a hassle, in terms of reinstalling programs and dealing with compatibility issues.

Michael Gartenberg, VP of mobile strategy with JupiterMedia, agreed, "It's a double-edged sword. For many consumers who may be looking to go directly from XP to Windows 7, the idea of doing a clean install, backing up their applications, backing up their data, can lead to a lot of hassles.""Considering that there's a lot of XP out there, one has to wonder why Microsoft is taking this approach," Gartenberg added. "It's not going to be the simplicity of sticking a disc in the drive and upgrading. We'll have to see if that affects the upgrade market."

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Seven months after IBM delivered the world's fastest supercomputer, it has announced an even speedier one with the computing power of 2 million laptops.

IBM said on Tuesday it is developing the technology for its new Sequoia computer, with delivery scheduled in 2011 to the Department of Energy for use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Sequoia will chug along at 20 petaflops per second and is one order of magnitude quicker than its predecessor. The earlier machine, delivered in June to the Energy Department, broke the 1 petaflop barrier.

Peta is a term for quadrillion and FLOP stands for floating point operations per second.

Sequoia, and a smaller computer called Dawn, are being built in Rochester, Minnesota, for use in simulating nuclear tests. IBM says they can also be used for complex tasks like weather forecasting or oil exploration.

IBM says Sequoia will be highly energy-efficient for the job it does but even so will occupy 96 refrigerator-sized racks in an area the size of a big house -- 3,422 square feet (318 square meters).

In what appears to be a deadly serious effort to expedite the rollout of its next operating systems, Microsoft has opened some of its developer support tools to a broader audience of partners.

One of the major shortcomings of Windows Vista that Microsoft has quietly, though plainly, acknowledged in recent months concerned the company's relative inability to engage partners in the development process. With a respectably long development cycle, there were too many third parties that complained that they couldn't get their drivers to work right, well after the operating system had already launched.

And by that time, it wasn't just the partners who were complaining, but also their customers.

In an attempt to rectify that problem -- in an effort that has the signature of Mike Nash written all over it -- Microsoft yesterday unveiled a new and separate home page for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 beta programs, that is an extension of the company's existing Connect program -- its outreach to interested parties beyond the paid subscribers to MSDN and TechNet. (A separate link for hardware engineers now appears on Hardware Developer Central.)Windows 7 has a new feature which could either work splendidly or be one of Microsoft's more notable disasters -- nothing in-between -- depending on how soon partners take up the cause of developing and testing new drivers. In the latest build, that feature is called Device Stage, and its goal is to enable users of smartphones, digital cameras, and other USB devices to plug into Win7 and see their exact models show up on the desktop -- maybe even in 3D, if all goes well -- along with instructions tailored specifically for those devices.

Naturally, this feature won't make sense to users if partners don't start building device drivers to spec. This is why the new Ecosystem Readiness Program site (with the unfortunate acronym ERP) contains links to a newly refreshed Windows Driver Kit. In coming weeks, the HDC version of the site reports that the company will be adding Win7 testing labs in Redmond, with more locations to follow, for partners to work directly with the company in ensuring that applications and device drivers work as projected.

When Corporate VP Mike Nash spoke to us last October at PDC 2008 -- when the first preview release of Win7 was just being distributed -- it was clear then that this new program was part of his plan to remake the Windows rollout. "One of the things that we're really excited about today is that the build that we distributed to folks is not feature-complete, but API-complete," Nash told us. "So our ecosystem partners can get a chance to start learning about Windows 7, and then start building for Windows 7. And then when the beta comes, it'll be feature-complete, which means the things that happen post-beta are bug fixes and edge conditions, versus adding features and making the ecosystem deal with new things."

With the beta build 7000 now here, it's clear that Nash's plan is to learn from Vista's mistakes and not repeat them with Win7. In a prepared Q&A released yesterday afternoon, Nash remarked, "When we've discussed new versions of Windows in the past, we typically shared ideas as if they were final. Sometimes things would shift, which could make it difficult for partners to plan when they should begin developing products. We've learned a tremendous amount from these experiences. In response we changed our approach to Windows 7, engaging with our partners early and planning with them in a more systematic way. We had the opportunity not only to watch how our partners were using and developing for Windows, but also to get their input on what was important to them.

"Based on this approach," he continued, "we were able to prioritize the things that developers cared about, and share an application programming interface (API)-complete version of Windows 7 at [PDC]. We held the [WinHEC] in November as well, and took the event to Asia to reach our partners in Beijing, Taipei and Tokyo. We followed this momentum by delivering a solid and stable beta version at International CES earlier this month. What this means for partners is that they can confidently invest and start testing now because the Windows 7 beta will have the same API set that they will see in the final release."

The HDC version also contains a link to the version 1.3 document for the Windows Logo Kit, which contains the minimum requirements for an application or driver to be given the "Compatible with Windows 7" logo. This year, there appears to be only one tier for the logo program, not three, not two. That's another Vista mistake that Microsoft appears to have learned from.

Whenever Microsoft present a new version of Windows, there’s always some period of uncertainty when users face the choice of moving to the current release or waiting for the new product. This year, however, that transition period is especially uneasy.

Windows 7 is — by all accounts (except from the Microsoft honchos) — due out later this year and is looking faster, smaller and more stable than any Windows release out there. Windows Vista is here, but not a user favorite (to put it mildly). And eight-year-old Windows XP is still the dominant version of Windows out there.

So what’s a Windows user to do? Follow Microsoft’s corporate guidance and upgrade to Vista now in preparation for 7? Hang on a bit longer with XP? Try mixing and matching the three in your IT shop?

Microsoft’s Windows brass have been reticent to provide a detailed answer to the question “What should my desktop strategy be?” But Mike Fiorina, a Microsoft account tech specialist based in New England, grabbed the Windows-upgrade-confusion bull by the horns in a blog post this past weekend.

Fiorina explained that a perfect storm is brewing: XP SP2 mainstream support is set to end in July, 2010. XP SP3 mainstream support isn’t retiring until mid-2014, which, Fiorina said, “gives XP environments some breathing room, but not necessarily as much as you might think.”

Even though Vista SP1 has been out for a year (and Vista SP2 is expected some time in the next few months), Vista still is suffering from both real and imagined limitations, Fiorina admitted. From his January 30 post:

“The one recurring theme in discussions with corporate customers is that (Vista) application compatibility is a problem. Applications may not run in Vista, or maybe they can, but it’s not supported by the vendor. Remediation will be costly and time consuming. We get it. Many of the acquisitions and investments we’ve made in the past few years are targeting that problem specifically (Application Virtualization – SoftGrid, Enterprise Desktop Virtualization – Kidaro, etc.)”

Fiorina noted that the generally positive beta reviews of Windows 7 has meant “we’re hearing from a lot of folks ‘Why should I upgrade to Vista when Windows 7 is right around the corner?’” His answer:

“If we look at it from the perspective of an enterprise with fairly unaggressive adoption cycles, then you’ll see that you may be putting yourself in an untenable situation a few years down the road.”

Untenable? Fiorina continued his line of reasoning with the caveat, “for the sake of argument, make these assumptions”:“Company A doesn’t deploy new operating systems or major applications until Service Pack 1 (or a similar bug-fix milestone) has been provided by the vendorCompany A probably won’t even begin testing their application footprint against the new OS until said SP1 is availableWindows 7 ships in the fourth quarter of 2009Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 would likely not be final until the first half of 2011, if not later (going by our historical timelines for SP1 releases)So, Company A would begin testing migration from Windows XP to Windows 7 SP1 in 2011 sometime. How long would it take to perform adequate testing of your application suite to certify\remediate it for Windows 7? For most, this is at least a 6 to 12 month process…so, now we’re in mid-2012. At that point, you’re ready to start building an image (hopefully using the MDT to make your lives easier). Maybe the image is ready to go in early 2013. Then you have a little over a year to get it out company-wide until Windows XP hits end-of-life. Is that enough time? Perhaps…but is it worth backing yourself into a corner?”

Sure, you could argue that Fiorina is a sales guy and is looking for any way possible to chalk up a few more Vista sales while Windows 7 is gaining steam. But, to me, his post highlights what’s likely to be one of the biggest IT questions in 2009: On which version of Windows should I standardize as my corporate desktop?

Corporate users: What’s your thinking here? Has your first taste of Windows 7 led you to change your deployment plans?

GottaBeMobile.com reader Medic / Willem Evenhuis just posted a YouTube video (see below) demonstrating a possible security bug with Windows 7 and their password security setting in the TIP, which is supposed to keep the password from being displayed while it is being entered via the onscreen keyboard. It is clear from his video that the password he is entering is being shown on the keyboard while he uses the onscreen keyboard to type it out, and he says that the TIP security is at the highest setting. I’ve tested this on my end using several websites and the log on screen, and it functions as designed for me. Anyone else having this problem? I’m definitely not seeing it on my end, but it doesn’t mean a potentially serious security bug isn’t there.

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